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Q&A With Food Writer Chris Johns

This is the 37th interview of what will eventually amount to 500 profiles of people who have made life in BC that much more interesting. At the rate we’re going it’ll take three years, at which time we’ll probably just start shooting for 1,000.

Once or twice a week Scout poses 60 questions to a different individual. They pick and choose which ones they’d prefer to answer, with a minimum response rate of 20. It’s some sort of Rorschach test, for sure…

Chris Johns is one of our favourite Canadian food writers. You can often find his work in Macleans, enRoute, The Globe & Mail, Vancouver Magazine, and many other publications.

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Scout Q&A

The thing that you eat that is bad for you that you will never stop eating: There are so many. I could probably give up sweets more easily than things like foie gras or bone marrow.

Default drink of choice: Whiskey sour.

Drink you’ll never have again: Dr. Pepper, Bubble Tea.

Sexiest fashion item for the opposite sex: Tights.

Favourite wine varietal: Red: Cabernet Sauvignon, but don’t tell Merlot, Malbec, Tempranillo or Sangiovese. White: Riesling.

The person you can imitate: Les Grossman.

One thing you’d like to change about Vancouver: More taxis.

Bartender who could sell you anything: I’m pretty trusting of Sebastian Le Goff.

Cheap place for dinner: Kintaro.

Book you’re reading: The Beautiful Struggle, Traffic, and a bunch of cookbooks.

Last place traveled: New Orleans.

Biggest fear: Shingles, the virus, not the roofing material.

Cliche that you use too often: I don’t know, but I am trying to incorporate: “rode hard and put up wet,” into my vocabulary whenever I can.

Dead film actor you wish was still making pictures: Spencer Tracy.

Place in BC that you love escaping to: The Okanagan.

Under what circumstances would you join the army: If they let me drive the tank and I only had to go for part of one afternoon.

Best bar stool in the city: Fifth from the end closest to the dining room at Market.

Dumbest purchase ever: Sweater pants.

What are you proud of: My new boots.

The thing that makes you the angriest: Injustice is pretty shitty.

Best fine dining restaurant in the city: I had a pretty spectacular meal at Lumiere recently.

Food your mom makes better than anyone: Tourtiere.

Talent you wish you possessed: Horse whisperer.

The trend you wish you never followed, but did: Is it too late to jump on the Jonas Brothers Bandwagon?

Musical instrument you long to play: I play the piano a little, but would like to be better.

Sport you gave up: Rock climbing.

The game you’re best at: Boules/Bocce. Most games that you can drink while playing I do pretty well at.

The number of fist fights you’ve been in: 3 and 0.

The scariest situation you’ve ever been in: Lost at midnight on a dirt road outside of Cali, Colombia just after my terrified driver dodged a makeshift roadblock, complete with burning tires.

How you waste time at work: If I wasn’t so busy wasting time at work I could write a book on how to waste time at work.

The thing you wished people cared more about: Other people.

The dish you’re most proud of: I once cooked an entire pig’s head and made something delicious out of it.

The thing that makes you the most nervous: Feral dog packs.

Album that first made you love music: I would love to say, Sketches of Spain or the Goldberg Variations, but it was probably something like Neil Diamond’s Moods album.

Default junk food of choice: Snickers.

The career path you considered but never followed: Librarian.

The one country that you have no interest in ever visiting: No desire whatsoever to visit Belarus.

Your top 3 films of all time: Hard to say. The films I’ve seen the most times, for whatever reason, are probably: Crumb, Napoleon Dynamite and Annie Hall.

The first three things you do every morning: Drink coffee, check email and read what’s on Arts & Letters Daily.

The thing you’re addicted to: Coke. As in cola. I can’t seem to give up the can a day habit.

Favourite book as a child: The Cricket in Times Square, by George Sheldon

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SCOUT INTERVIEW ARCHIVE

There are 3 comments

  1. Hey chris how are you i want to start 4 curries over rice….at my cafe… you made best ever indian….help me out a bit….saw debs and she said you were in victoria

  2. HEy Chris …i’m still on the Drive serving up organics….has been vegan cafe for past three years….about to start serving eggs and cheese…i could use some help with south indian fare email me or call me 778-861-7488 Cell all the best ralph